REGISTRATION FOR SA’S TELKOM SHARES A HUGE SUCCESS, SAYS MINISTER

The South African Government has expressed satisfaction at the ‘phenomenal’ response to Telkom Initial Public Offering (IPO), saying such a massive public reaction to share registration indicated ‘a real thirst’ for financial and investment knowledge amongst locals. At least a million South Africans have so far registered for both Khulisa (for historically disadvantaged individuals) and general offer shares, with Gauteng topping the chart at 246 788. It is followed by the Eastern Cape (164 170); KwaZulu-Natal (158 492); Western Cape (129 471); Mpumalanga (76 090) and Limpopo (71 270).

‘This is a resounding vote of support for our broad programme to restructuring,’ public enterprise minister Jeff Radebe.’The response is, quiet simply, phenomenal. The figure of one million registrations is more than four times our expectation and is particularly significant when viewed against similar initiatives in the private sector.’

"There are no fundamental issues outstanding," Public Enterprises Minister Jeff Radebe said yesterday. "We have finalised the shareholders agreement with our partners and had final meetings with the JSE and NYSE. We will release full technical details in about 10 days."